The Downfall:At least now we understand the science and have radar and such.

yupbut i am guessing you have never been up close and personal with one because even know how they form and what they are does very little to calm oneself when it is closing in on you.Been there, done that.Hate and terrified of the god damn things.

Evil Canadian:gameshowhost: Evil Canadian: ontariolightning: ZeroCorpse:When do you finally say "F♠ck this shiat!" and move to Wisconsin, Michigan, Kentucky, or some place where you don't see frequent tornadoes and hurricanes?

Detroits been hit by 6 tornadoes as has Windsor Ontario.Kentucky gets its share..

Wisconsin has had some really bad ones. Ontario occasionally gets a really bad one as well.

No doubt on WI. We've seen a few nasty ones near Madison in my lifetime and '84 Barneveld essentially destroyed the entire town in one fell swoop.

/used to drive by Barneveld all the time

Wife tells me about Barneveld all the time. I am not sure but I think she lived in Madtown at the time. Huge deal. I recognize that OK and KS and other states are at huge risk of storms, it's not like they don't happen all over. Heck, even my hometown in Northern Ontario got smacked by an F3 once. There were fatalities.

Yeah that was a mofo of a tornado -- had it gone thru Madison, the death toll would've likely been in the 3-digits.

Cytokine Storm:I just don't understand why we don't drop a low-yield nuclear warhead where the funnel cloud starts to form, thereby disrupting it and saving the region from a destructive tornado. I mean I'm not even a saientist and the solution is obvious.

As usual, the storm lost the majority of its energy before reaching Tulsa county. I might not even get rain here.

Marine1:It's not that much more, really. Especially when you consider the cost of housing in the Midwest and Great Plains.

Let's say you don't put a basement in EVERY home. If these towns can dig trenches for sewers, storm drains, and water mains, they can dig a 20'x20' (hell, smaller than that) every block or two as a tornado shelter.

It's a practice that we know would save lives. There's no real reason NOT to do it.

I envy your optimistic view towards business and the financial means of the lower and lower-middle class.We would need large donations and a concentrated effort from outside forces to get more shelters built throughout the state, which would somehow be protested by enough people to probably get canned (only takes one company losing money to convince people it's socialism).I don't know what to do in this situation, I don't think anyone does.

Cytokine Storm:I just don't understand why we don't drop a low-yield nuclear warhead where the funnel cloud starts to form, thereby disrupting it and saving the region from a destructive tornado. I mean I'm not even a saientist and the solution is obvious.

Kaeishiwaza:I live in Manhattan and had my home wrecked by Sandy. When I heard that Senators and Representatives were voting against aid to my area because it was 'pork' I was furious.

Now when a disaster hits Oklahoma, one of the places in the nation where the politicians didn't want to help New York and New Jersey are located, I feel nothing but compassion and a desire to help these people. They should get immediate aid and I frankly don't care if I have to pay some extra taxes next year or whenever to make sure they're taken care of.

We just told you a bunch of reasons why it's not done. You just keep ignoring them.

Denying people live-saving shelter in an area prone to violent storms is not a good practice, and there's no reason for it, period. If they can't put some form of shelter in, they need to build somewhere else. A strong room might not have been enough for this stuff, even... sheesh, man, these pics are unreal...

I grew up in (Alabama) and currently live in tornado alley (Missouri). We had many tornadoes all around us and didn't get hit. Most people don't. The odds are great that you will never get hit by a tornado even if you spend your entire life in tornado prone areas. Yes a basement or shelter is great to have. I have a basement. But you are are using a very bad tragedy like today as a way to ignore the odds and act like it's negligent to live without a basement. Everyone is at MUCH great risk of dying in the bathtub than in a tornado. Calm down. You have to look at statistical facts.

FYI for anyone who cares, apparently my sister and one of her kids got to a shelter, so they are ok. BIL picking up another kid at school. So I believe everyone is OK physically. Still no idea if they have a house to go to. It's for sure there is no electricity there.

mr lawson:The Downfall: At least now we understand the science and have radar and such.

yupbut i am guessing you have never been up close and personal with one because even know how they form and what they are does very little to calm oneself when it is closing in on you.Been there, done that.Hate and terrified of the god damn things.

What I mean is now we at least have warning. Doesn't make it any less scary, really.

luckyeddie:Kaeishiwaza: I live in Manhattan and had my home wrecked by Sandy. When I heard that Senators and Representatives were voting against aid to my area because it was 'pork' I was furious.

Now when a disaster hits Oklahoma, one of the places in the nation where the politicians didn't want to help New York and New Jersey are located, I feel nothing but compassion and a desire to help these people. They should get immediate aid and I frankly don't care if I have to pay some extra taxes next year or whenever to make sure they're taken care of.

Serious question: If this area of the country is constantly plagued with Tornado's why do they still build above ground? I realize underground structures are not very aesthetic but building above ground and having this happen seems unnecessary.

Smelly Pirate Hooker:FYI for anyone who cares, apparently my sister and one of her kids got to a shelter, so they are ok. BIL picking up another kid at school. So I believe everyone is OK physically. Still no idea if they have a house to go to. It's for sure there is no electricity there.

Cytokine Storm:I just don't understand why we don't drop a low-yield nuclear warhead where the funnel cloud starts to form, thereby disrupting it and saving the region from a destructive tornado. I mean I'm not even a saientist and the solution is obvious.

You probably couldn't devise a better way to cover a large populated area with radioactive isotopes. Any lives you saved from the hurricane would be nothing compared to the cancer rates in the following 20 years.

ForrestRump:Serious question: If this area of the country is constantly plagued with Tornado's why do they still build above ground? I realize underground structures are not very aesthetic but building above ground and having this happen seems unnecessary.

Churchy LaFemme:Has Pat Robertson been around to attribute the storm to God's wrath over Oklahoman wickedness yet?

It's kind of flexible with Robertson. If a huge storm misses a metro area, Robertson will take credit for his prayers diverting the storm. If the storm hits the area, then he will claim that despite his efforts, God just couldn't forgive their wickedness and/or lack of donations to Robertson's ministry.

I took a quick look at a map, and if that tornado had hit the lower city of Hamilton, Ontario, where we live, the entire lower city from the mountain to the harbour would be obliterated, plus some nice water funnels on the lake. It's one way to really get a feel for the size of this tornado. Hadn't thought of it that way before, but just wow.

This totally sucks ironically I was at a "safety"meeting in Marlow when this started. And tomorrow the eastern part of the state is supposed to get hit. I see this stuff and although we were not affected today or yesterday, it hurts my heart especially the shot of the school

Lt. Cheese Weasel:Contrabulous Flabtraption: Imagine how totally terrifying tornadoes were to early humans.

No kidding. we have technology, and are just as helpless.

I don't know.. Something tells me they might have been a bit smarter about it. Most Americans have no relation to the earth whatsoever. I'm one of them. I love a good storm but I have no idea what differentiates one from the other. I go outside with my Kindle and sit on my porch while watching the clouds roll in without a clue. I would imagine the natives were a bit better keyed into what their environment was doing than we might give them credit for. We wait for the news to tell us whats up, when the natives ruled that territory had a culture built upon the "weather spirits." We have Chad Handipants on News at 6. For the Native American a tornado was worshiped more than feared.

Evil Canadian:I took a quick look at a map, and if that tornado had hit the lower city of Hamilton, Ontario, where we live, the entire lower city from the mountain to the harbour would be obliterated, plus some nice water funnels on the lake. It's one way to really get a feel for the size of this tornado. Hadn't thought of it that way before, but just wow.

Smelly Pirate Hooker:FYI for anyone who cares, apparently my sister and one of her kids got to a shelter, so they are ok. BIL picking up another kid at school. So I believe everyone is OK physically. Still no idea if they have a house to go to. It's for sure there is no electricity there.

Being alive and accounted for is enough for a WOOOHOOOO right now from me! :) hope their house made it too.

Serious question: If this area of the country is constantly plagued with Tornado's why do they still build above ground? I realize underground structures are not very aesthetic but building above ground and having this happen seems unnecessary.

close to surface water tables

Your answer makes perfect sense. Thanks for responding. But don't they have tornado shelters which are underground? I am not suggesting reverse high rises or anything. I don't know, just battling the bad news with possible solutions that have most likely been hammered out long before I came around.

I feel so bad for these people. I know what a tornado feels like. I hope that things work out as well as they can for these guys. I was in a tornado in Ontario many years ago. The air is actually "hard" when it moves that fast. It goes from being this fluffy thing we pass through to make a sandwich to being a substantive thing that can move things very visibly and tangibly right away. It is a hard fear to face when it is happening. All you can do is look for cover and hope it is quick. Hope they are ok.